Fayetteville Police Department, North Carolina
End of Watch: Saturday, February 22, 1908
Age: 52
Tour of Duty: Not available
Badge Number: Not available
Cause of Death: Gunfire
Date of Incident: February 22, 1908
Weapon Used: Gun; Unknown type
Suspect Info: Executed
Chief of Police James Benton was shot and killed near his back door while investigating a report from a woman that a man was trying to kill her.
Chief Benton and his family were about to sit down and eat dinner at their home on the corner of Grove Street and Barges Lane when a woman ran into the chief's home and told him that the suspect, who had been drinking, was trying to kill her. Chief Benton immediately put his pistol into his pocket and grabbed his cap. When he had walked only five feet from his back door, the suspect, who had been hiding in the stable behind the Benton home, came running toward the chief and shot him in the face before Benton had time to draw his pistol.
The suspect was wounded by Chief Benton's son and was later arrested, convicted of murder, and hanged.
He was survived by his wife and eight children.